Mirror, Mirror

by Linda Randall Wisdom

  Dana couldn’t hear anything over the roaring in her head. “I don’t care what you’re saying. I know I wasn’t here.”

  “Dana.” Mac’s quiet voice cut through her protests. “Never mind.” He pulled his wallet out. “I’ll take care of the groceries. We’ll settle this later once we get a few more facts.”

  She refused to budge. “No, I want this settled now.” She fixed the manager with a steely stare. “I have not been in this store for months. There is a mistake here.”

  Mac pulled out his ATM card and quickly took care of the bill. Once finished, he took Dana’s arm and literally pulled her out of the store.

  “What are you doing?” She tried to dig in her heels, but he wasn’t having any of it.

  “Dammit, Dana, either you go along peacefully or so help me I will throw you over my shoulder and carry you out of here,” he told her with clenched teeth. He somehow managed to steer the shopping cart with one hand and keep a firm hand on her arm.

  Dana had no choice but to stumble along or fall on her face. She ran beside him in order to keep up with his longer stride. Her breathing grew labored as she fought back angry tears.

  “Why did he say all those horrible things to me?” she demanded as they stopped at the rear of the Explorer.

  “He said all those horrible things because you bounced checks in his store. People tend to get testy when too many checks are returned due to insufficient funds,” he replied, popping the back of the vehicle open and stowing grocery bags there. He pushed her onto the passenger seat and walked around to the driver’s side. “For him, it was nothing personal. Just business.”

  “I don’t care if it is just business. I didn’t do it!” she yelled.

  Mac twisted in the seat and grabbed her shoulders. “Listen to me.” He spoke in a harsh voice guaranteed to grab her attention. “If it wasn’t you who bounced those checks, it was someone who pretended to be you. That means they also have to look enough like you to pull it off, in case anyone working here is familiar with you. Someone has a major grudge against you, Dana. They’re doing everything possible to have you embarrassed and they’re doing a good job of it. So just remain calm, and we’ll figure this out.”

  “So now we know for sure I have a look-alike running around pretending to be me,” she said bitterly, flopping back in her seat. The frown on her face and arms crossed in front of her chest were indications she was more than frustrated, she was furious. The bright spots of pink dotting each cheek seemed to grow in intensity as her temper flared higher.

  Mac remained quiet as Dana cast curses on the person who’d orchestrated everything that had happened to her so far. He stifled a sigh. He could see he wasn’t going to be able to get through to her until she had a chance to calm down.

  Mac didn’t see it as a good sign.

  This woman was doing a hell of a number making Dana’s life a living hell. He’d even bet she’d been in the woods behind Dana’s house that morning. That was why Duffy went crazy.

  He switched on the engine and set the vehicle in gear. “We’ve got some work to do.”

  Dana didn’t say another word during the drive back to her house.

  Mac couldn’t blame her. It looked like someone had been spying on them, and had managed to blacken Dana’s name at her grocery store and probably even her bank if she’d found a way to access Dana’s accounts.

  And now it looked like her parents had lied to her. The people she’d always trusted. It wasn’t like his family, where his mother lied by saying she loved him, then left him behind. Or Faith claiming to love him—until she decided she didn’t want to be married to a cop anymore and went out looking for a replacement before she’d even dumped him. Or the few other women in his life who’d always left because they couldn’t handle his darker side.

  The lies told to Dana were more serious because it looked like there was much more to her accident than they ever wanted her to know.

  How did you get answers when one person involved was dead and the other unable to communicate?

  “Where do you keep your bank statements?” he asked the moment they entered the house. He set the grocery bags on the kitchen counter. Duffy immediately balanced on his hind legs with his front feet planted on the counter’s surface as he burrowed his head in the bag that held the box of Milk Bones. “And your boxes of checks. Anything that has to do with your personal finances. Are they kept here at home or at your office?”

  “In my home office.”

  He headed for the office. “When was the last time you balanced your account?”

  She closed her eyes, thinking back. “It’s been a few months. What with Dad’s death, Mom’s illness and so much going on at the office, I haven’t found the time.”

  “Then I suggest we don’t waste any time checking it out.” He started opening desk drawers until he found the file he was looking for. He pulled out several fat envelopes with the bank’s return address printed in the corner. He also found other envelopes stuffed in the file folder. He held them up. “Personal knowledge of these kind of envelopes tells me they’re bounced check notifications.”

  “It can’t be. I have overdraft protection,” Dana explained, bewildered by what she was seeing. “If there were problems the bank would have called me.”

  Mac didn’t bother asking permission, he just started tearing envelopes open and studying the contents.

  “Three checks written out to Kitty’s House. Shop known for its marital aids and daring leather clothing,” he explained.

  Dana choked.

  “Two of these were written to Ned’s Place. Funny, I thought his was a cash-only business,” he muttered, continuing to sort out the checks.

  He made two piles of checks, one for the usual household payments and the other for places he knew Dana would never frequent. By the time he finished, they both realized what had happened to Dana’s overdraft protection. It had been maxed out. He pulled out a check paid to Dana’s mortgage company and one written to an adult bookstore. He wasn’t an expert in handwriting analysis, but the two signatures looked identical to him. He chose six checks at random and stuffed them into an envelope. He knew someone who could study the handwriting and see if there was any difference in the signatures.

  “I don’t need this.” Dana rubbed the spot between her eyebrows. She left the room.

  “You could help me here,” Mac called after her.

  “From what I can see, you’re doing just fine on your own,” she snapped. “Since coffee would only make my nerves even more jangled, I’m going to have a small glass of wine.”

  I probably shouldn’t drink any more wine. I always seem to wake up with a headache when I do have some.

  Mac shot out of the chair and reached the kitchen just a few steps behind Dana. He took the wine bottle out of her hand and lifted it to the light. He shook it slightly and watched a faint cloud settle down to the bottom.

  “What now?” she cried.

  “That’s what we need to find out. It’s something I should have thought of before when you said it was starting to give you migraines,” he said, stashing the bottle in a paper bag.

  Dana pressed her hand against her stomach. She felt as if a gallon of acid had just been dumped into it. “Mac, you’re scaring me.”

  “Believe me, right now I’m scaring me.” He put the bag to one side. “You said nights you had a glass of wine you’d wake up with a bad headache. Was it because you had a restless night? Trouble sleeping?”

  Dana thought back and slowly shook her head. “Actually, once I turned out the light, I never seemed to remember anything until morning. But I always woke up with a bad headache. I was beginning to think I’d developed some kind of reaction to the wine when I had the same problem with this new bottle.”

  “Let me check this out first,” he said. He stuffed the envelope containing the six canceled checks in his jacket pocket and picked up the wine bottle. “While I’m doing this, I want you to go down to the bank and close out a
ny of your personal accounts. You don’t need to give them a reason. Just do it. Ask for a cashier’s check. Then find yourself another bank and open your accounts there. Do you keep all your important papers in a safety deposit box?”

  “Not all of them. Some I keep here,” she replied.

  “Take everything with you. Don’t leave anything here. Empty out the old safety deposit box and get a new one. You might even consider doing the same with your business accounts. In fact, have your accountant audit all the accounts. Just to be on the safe side.” He looked around. “Do me a favor and also check all your office’s computer files. Maybe now you’ll reconsider the idea that a temp messed up those files.”

  Dana heaved a deep sigh. “Something tells me I’m not going to like what I find.”

  But she wasted no time in booting up her computer. From the moment she checked her first file and discovered it had been accessed a few days earlier, she knew what she would find. Each file gave her the same story.

  “The only thing she hasn’t done is interfere with my mother,” she muttered.

  “She’s done a real number on your bank accounts.” He stood behind her and looked over her shoulder at the computer monitor. “The first thing we’re going to do is encrypt your system. You’ll need a password for every file. Not an easy one, either. And you are not to write it down anywhere. Keep it in your head and don’t tell anyone. Not even me.”

  Dana buried her face in her hands. She hadn’t expected control of her life to be so viciously taken out of her hands.

  “Is she doing what I think she’s doing?” she whispered.

  “Only if you’re thinking she’s taking over your life, step by step.”

  Chapter 12

  Mac wasted no time in encrypting all of Dana’s computer files. When he finished, she followed his instructions. She thought of a password she prayed no one else would guess. Now all she could do was hope that her enemy wouldn’t somehow break into her mind and discover one of her last secrets.

  “I don’t want to leave you alone any more than I have to. And I need to get these to a couple of experts I know,” he told her, gesturing with the bag holding the bottle of wine and the envelope filled with the canceled checks. “I called the neighborhood’s security patrol. I told them who I was and asked for additional drive-bys. I told them you have a stalker. I know, I know.” He noticed the look in her eye. “I’ve said more than once I don’t think all that much of them. But they do patrol the area and they might see something we don’t. I told them your stalker is a woman who’s pretending to be you. I asked them not to make any contact but to call me. If she shows up here again, she might not be so lucky. What else do you need to do before you can go with me?”

  She shrugged. The lump in her throat wouldn’t allow for speech.

  Mac pulled her into his arms and kept them tightly wrapped around her. He rested his chin on top of her head. “Would you believe me if I told you we’re closing in on her?”

  “No.” Her voice was ragged with resignation. “She seems to keep finding something new to taunt us with.”

  He leaned back so he could kiss her. His mouth lingered on hers.

  “She’s not going to win, Dana,” he whispered against her lips. “She’s starting to make mistakes. She’s pretended to be you and written checks out of your bank account. A big one there. Her emptying your bank accounts is another big one. People who know you are seeing her. No matter how much she resembles you, there’s going to be someone who will see the difference—and that’s when it will start to fall apart.”

  “That’s understandable if she’s going to take over my life.” She inhaled the spicy scent of his skin. “But you’re not going to let her, are you?”

  “She doesn’t have a chance,” he vowed, kissing her again. “Let’s finish what you need to do here, then we’ll get out.”

  Dana nodded. “It shouldn’t take long.”

  Mac followed her back into her office and took possession of the chair by Dana’s desk.

  She sat down and went through her checking account statements. She looked ready to cry when the ending balance came out the same no matter how many times she rechecked it: zero.

  “I had no idea,” she groaned. “And I should have. After all, she’s been in my house more than once. Why wouldn’t she have taken my money, too?”

  “Where’s your box of checks?” Mac asked.

  Dana pulled it out of her bottom desk drawer. She checked each book.

  “The third one down is missing,” she announced. “Since I just put a new book of checks in my checkbook, it would have been some time before I noticed it.” She turned to her computer and went on-line. “Twenty of the twenty-five missing checks have already been cashed.” She sat back, shattered by the alarming information. “You’re right. She could have gotten into the company files, too.” She reached for her phone.

  Mac listened to Dana talk to the company controller. After a brief apology for disturbing him on the weekend, she asked that he begin a company-wide audit first thing Monday morning. Judging from Dana’s responses, Mac guessed the man was questioning her reason for the out-of-the-blue request. She explained she feared there was money being withdrawn by an unauthorized person. It took her some time to assure the shaken man that she knew it wasn’t due to him or his handling of the accounting department.

  After she finished her call, she looked at Mac. “Let’s get this over with.”

  With Mac standing behind her as a silent guard, she went to her bank and began the process. She cashed in a bond that allowed her to settle the balance due on the overdraft protection, and left a token amount in the checking account to cover any outstanding checks. She emptied her safety deposit box and left the building as quickly as possible.

  Mac was with her every step of the way as she performed the tasks that she hoped would offer her some protection until they found the woman.

  She doesn’t want to just overturn your life, Dana. She wants to destroy you.

  Dana had no idea where that thought came from, but the reality of the statement echoing through her head struck her hard. It seemed the woman was getting more blatant by the moment.

  If she truly wanted to destroy Dana, how far would she go?

  Dana feared it could come down to a fight for her very life.

  Mac abruptly made an illegal U-turn and sped in the opposite direction.

  “I thought we were going to the crime lab,” Dana said.

  “We’re still going there, but I need to check something out first.”

  “Why are we here?” she asked, when he parked in front of the Madison home.

  “We’ve got more questions, right? Let’s see if Harriet can give us some answers.”

  Harriet’s smile dimmed when she identified her visitors. “What’s wrong?” She grabbed his arm and dragged them both inside. “What’s happened?”

  “Nothing yet,” he replied. “I just have some questions I hope you can answer.”

  “How is Moms?” Dana asked.

  “She’s doing fine, dear. So much better that the one I worry about is you. Come on back to the kitchen.” She led them back to the room redolent with the domestic fragrance of cinnamon and other spices. She waved for them to sit at the breakfast bar while she gathered up cups and plates.

  Mac’s mouth watered as she set a cup of coffee and large cinnamon roll in front of him.

  “What do you need to know?” Harriet asked, sitting down with a cup of coffee of her own.

  Dana looked to Mac. Her eyes telegraphed that she knew what he was going to ask. No matter how much it hurt any of them, the questions had to be answered. It was time to know the truth.

  Mac quickly chewed and swallowed. “What do you know about the time when Dana fell and cut her head open?”

  “Only what I’ve heard from her parents,” the housekeeper answered. “The scar along her hairline was pretty red and angry looking then. Alice told me about Dana’s fall and how her early memories we
re wiped out afterward.”

  “So they told you I fell and struck my head on a shelf?” Dana cut in.

  The older woman frowned. “Yes, of course. Was there a reason why they wouldn’t tell me? I didn’t start working for the Madisons until they moved here months after Dana’s accident.”

  “Moved here after my accident?” Dana shook her head. “No, I’ve always lived here.”

  “So Dana wasn’t practically born in this house?” Mac sipped his coffee, wishing his at home would come out this rich and flavorful.

  Harriet patted Dana’s hand. “No, in fact, they lived in another town. About twenty or thirty miles north of here, if I remember correctly. They advertised for a live-in housekeeper, and I was looking for some stability. I got that and more. Alice and Jeremy invited me to feel like a part of the family from almost the beginning.”

  Mac digested the information. “Do you remember where they moved from?”

  She named the town. “Why are you asking about something that happened so long ago? Why do you think Dana’s accident has something to do with what’s happening to her now?”

  “You tell her,” Dana said in a choked voice. “I can’t.”

  Harriet looked from one to the other. “Tell me what?”

  “When Dana’s parents told you about her accident, do you remember exactly what they said about it?”

  “Oh my, this was so long ago,” she murmured. “From what I recall, Alice said Dana was climbing on a chair to get a toy and fell off the chair. She hit her head against a corner of one of the shelves and cut her head open. The poor baby ended up with some stitches and had to spend a couple days in the hospital. She didn’t remember any of what happened. Alice never said why they moved here not long after it happened.”

  Harriet turned to Dana. “What happened, honey?” A horrifying thought suddenly came to her. She glared at Mac. “If you’re thinking that this head injury did something to her that didn’t surface until now, you are very wrong. This girl does not have a split personality,” she said with finality.